Ex-con accused in wife's death

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Investigators have obtained an arrest warrant accusing Russell Perillo of first-degree manslaughter in the June 16 death of Wendy-Lou Jackson-Perillo, according to police department spokesman Officer Robert Kirchner.

Perillo, who is incarcerated on a parole violation, will be formally charged when he is brought to Superior Court in Bantam Aug. 3, authorities said.

Jackson-Perillo, 35, died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen, according to an autopsy performed by the state medical examiner.

Because Perillo hasn't yet been arrested, Kirchner said he couldn't release additional details about the case.

Police previously said a friend of Jackson-Perillo's found her body about 2 a.m. in the kitchen of the apartment she shared with her husband.

Under Connecticut law, a person is guilty of first-degree manslaughter when, with the intent of causing serious physical injury to another person, the individual causes the death of that person or of a third party, or when he or she causes the death of another person while under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance.

First-degree manslaughter is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Perillo, a former Danbury resident, was arrested on narcotics and weapons charges three years ago as a result of a drug-trafficking investigation involving Danbury and New York police. A search of Perillo's Shelter Rock Road apartment yielded cocaine, ecstasy, an assault weapon and a stolen car, authorities said.

Perillo, who was convicted on narcotics possession and possession of an assault weapon, had been on parole in New York and Connecticut, according to Department of Correction spokesman Ed Ramsey.

He'd completed his Connecticut parole, but he was still on parole for the New York state charges when he was jailed for a violation last week, Ramsey said.